17.Strength Test
A thank you for being my patron:
"Deva Path":
-Victor Gonzalez
-Mathias Zink
"Human Path":
-Codeseed g
-Sayemal Reaz
"Outer Path":
-chris
-Mohamed
-BlueFern XO
-Anil Singh
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - p@treon.com/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
--------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, after having dinner, Gurē took Sasuke to a residence.
The residence was spacious, with an ancient architecture, and Sasuke noticed the Uchiha clan's fan emblem hanging next to the gate at a glance.
"The door isn't locked," Gurē said as he pushed open the gate to the yard, "This is where Kaito lives. You'll be okay on your own, right?"
"No problem, thanks, Gurē." Sasuke walked straight in.
"Hey, you're somewhat polite now. Well then, have a good rest. See you."
After saying this, Gurē transformed back and flew away.
"Hmph! See you." Sasuke closed the door.
Instead of preparing to sleep, Sasuke took off his shoes, stepped onto the porch beneath the eaves, and simply sat down on the wooden floor.
Since meeting his uncle Kaito, in just a few days, he had received too much information.
He had been passively following his uncle without time to properly digest this information.
Now, with some time alone, he decided to sort through his thoughts.
When Kaito returned home, he found Sasuke sitting on the porch, staring at the moon.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back."
Kaito sat down next to Sasuke and asked, "Why haven't you rested yet, Sasuke?"
"It's nothing, I just need to think about how I should act from now on."
"Have you figured it out?"
"Ah." Sasuke's gaze shifted to his uncle, "That guy Itachi, I will make him live with his remorse. For him, perhaps dying is a relief, but why should everything go as he wishes?"
The youth's gaze was firm, and he looked up at the crescent moon, softly saying, "I will work hard to become stronger, stronger than him. Then, everything will be up to me."
"Uncle wants to defeat Kaguya, right? I'll help."
Then, as if remembering something, he asked, "But doesn't Kaguya's appearance mean all the tailed beasts have been captured? What will happen to that dead-last Naruto?"
Kaito truthfully answered, "A jinchūriki will die if their tailed beast is extracted."
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, then he tried to maintain his composure, "That dead-last, if he can't become stronger, it's his own fault if he dies."
Kaito found it somewhat amusing to see. The kid was clearly still concerned about his teammate.
So, he teased, "Though you say that, if he gets captured, you will still go save him, right?"
"I have no choice." Sasuke emphasized, "That guy is my acknowledged rival. He can't die over something like this!"
"Alright." Kaito stood up, turned, and opened the sliding door, "But for now, you should rest. We'll start training tomorrow."
"Hmph, I know."
The night quickly passed.
In the morning, when Sasuke stepped out of his room, Kaito was already setting up breakfast.
"Good morning."
"Good morning. Sasuke, I had breakfast brought over. Wash up and come eat."
"I know."
After a simple breakfast, they headed to the spacious backyard.
"First, come at me with all your strength, Sasuke." Kaito stood ready and waved Sasuke over, "Show me all your power."
Eager for the challenge, Sasuke showed an expectant smile. He really wanted to fight his uncle and see.
He took out several shuriken, slightly crouched, activated his Sharingan, and immediately entered a combat state.
However, Kaito remained relaxed, not even activating his Sharingan.
Thinking he was being underestimated, Sasuke acted.
In an instant, Sasuke moved.
Shuriken traced different arcs in the air, rapidly approaching Kaito from all sides.
Facing the incoming shuriken, Kaito still stood in place, waiting until the shuriken nearly reached him before he began to move.
Suddenly, a short sword appeared in his hands. With a draw of the sword from its sheath, he seemed to casually wave it a few times, deflecting all the thrown shuriken.
Then, he casually walked towards Sasuke.
Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
His cheeks puffed up, and he exhaled a massive fireball.
Facing the oncoming fireball with its wave of heat, Kaito didn't stop his unhurried pace, simply raising the sword in his right hand.
With a swipe, the sword traced an arc.
Then, a bright arc of light suddenly expanded, splitting the fireball in two, and continued its swift trajectory towards Sasuke.
Sasuke quickly jumped aside to dodge, pulling out several kunai and throwing them, while also quickly moving towards Kaito.
Kaito continued to swing the short sword in his hand casually, knocking down the incoming kunai.
Then, his speed suddenly increased, and he stabbed towards the approaching Sasuke with the tip of his sword.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun, his right hand holding a kunai to block the incoming blade tip.
The kunai and the short sword touched and instantly parted, Sasuke moved swiftly, changing direction to stab at Kaito.
However, before he could exert force, Kaito's sword tip was again quicker, shining with a cold light as it thrust towards his chest.
Sasuke had no choice but to stop and raise the kunai in defense.
As the two continued to exchange blows, Sasuke found himself increasingly on the defensive.
"This won't do, Sasuke," Kaito laughed, "There's too much of a speed difference. I'm not very skilled in swordsmanship, yet I can easily defeat you like this."
Sasuke, finding no moment to speak, was holding a kunai in each hand, barely managing to defend.
Frustrated by the vast difference, and the man in front of him not even taking him seriously!
Sasuke gritted his teeth and persevered, while also thinking of a strategy.
Seeing this, Kaito smiled slightly.
If it were a real fight, he could have ended it in an instant at the beginning.
However, the reason for this fight was because he wanted to see Sasuke's true strength.
So, he deliberately exposed a weakness, allowing Sasuke to create a shadow clone to distance himself.
Kaito didn't pursue, instead looking at Sasuke, who was slightly panting, with expectation.
Knowing he was completely no match for the man before him, Sasuke was not one to give up just like that.
Thus, he activated the power of his curse mark.
Black curse patterns crawled over Sasuke's body, then his hair lengthened and faded in color, his facial features drastically changed, and a pair of fleshy wings sprouted from his back.
"This is the power of the curse mark? It's almost like becoming a demon."
Kaito observed the process of the curse mark activating on Sasuke with interest.
"No, there's indeed a faint demonic aura. Interesting!"
It seems Orochimaru didn't just come up with this out of nowhere; he must have found someone with a demon's bloodline.